The Elmer Drew Merrill papers were
acquired during his tenure from 1935-1946, and thereafter until
1956. This collection was then transferred from the Arnold Arboretum’s departmental holdings to
the Arboretum’s Archives in
1986 when the Archive was established.

Researchers seeking to examine archival materials are strongly encouraged to make
an
appointment. The Director, or an office of origin, may place restrictions on the use
of some or all of its records. The extent and length of the restriction will be
determined by the Director, office of origin, and the Archivist and will be enforced
equally for all researchers.

The copyright is held by The President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Arnold
Arboretum Archives of Harvard University. The copyright on some materials in the
collection may be held by the original author or the author's heirs or assigns.
Researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from the holder(s) of
copyright and the Arnold Arboretum Archives prior to publishing any quotations or
images from materials in this collection.

Photocopies may be made at the discretion of the Arnold Arboretum Archives staff.
Permission to make photocopies does not constitute permission to reproduce or
publish materials outside the bounds of the fair use guidelines.

Elmer Drew Merrill
(1876-1956) was both a productive scientist and an able
administrator. Director of the Arnold
Arboretum from 1935 to 1946, Dr. Merrill initiated steps toward more
efficient use of resources and a greater focus on horticulture. Merrill specialized in the flora of
Asia and published nearly 500 papers and
books.

Elmer Merrill was born and
raised in East Auburn, Maine. He graduated from the University of Maine in
1898, and stayed on as a graduate assistant in natural science, earning
a master’s in botany even though no formal training was offered in the field.
Recognized as a major contributor to the field of botany by the 1930’s,
Merrill received honorary
Doctor of Science degrees from University of
Maine, Harvard
University, and later from both the University of California and
Yale. In 1899, he took a job in
Washington DC as an assistant
agrostologist (a specialist in grasses) at the Department of Agriculture.

In 1902, Merrill
went to the Philippines, where he was a
botanist for the USDA and the Bureau of Forestry. He spent the next 22
years working toward compiling a comprehensive flora of the Philippines, visiting every large island and
many of the smaller ones. He taught botany at the University of the Philippines
and became director of its Bureau of
Science in 1919.

Dr. Merrill returned to the
United States in 1924
to become dean of the College of
Agriculture at the University of California and director of the Agricultural Experiment
Station. He led a reorganization of a faculty of 350 that emphasized
upgrading of academic training of staff, added buildings and equipment, augmented
the budget significantly, and stressed fundamental research, with a goal of “a
university education on the basis of agriculture, [as] opposed to vocational
instruction in agriculture” (Merrill, 1953, p.363).

>Despite Dr. Merrill’s heavy
administrative responsibilities, he found time for work in systematic botany, adding
hundreds of thousands of mounted specimens to University herbaria and publishing
papers and books.

In 1929, Merrill
accepted an appointment as director of the New York Botanic Garden. Despite
severe budgetary constraints arising from the Great Depression, Merrill was able to use workers from
work relief programs to upgrade the grounds and for extensive herbarium work.

In 1935, at the age of 59, Dr. Elmer Merrill came to Harvard University as Arnold Professor
and administrator of botanical collections. His appointment of Donald Wyman to the new position of
horticulturist signaled an emphasis on the living collection and on publications and
activities educating the gardening public. Dr. Merrill campaigned from the outset for
consolidation of the separate units within the Harvard botany department, decrying the duplication of effort and
expense, and laid the groundwork for the Bailey Plan of reorganization that was
proposed in 1946. His administration had to deal with the destruction
caused by the devastating hurricane of 1938 and the labor shortages
during World War II.

Merrill’s knowledge of the
Pacific Islands and their flora
proved extremely useful during the war. Dr. Merrill compiled a handbook of “Emergency food plants and Poisonous
plants of the islands of the Pacific,”
which was published by the War
Department and used as the basis for survival manuals issued to the
troops.

Dr. Merrill continued his research
after his retirement in 1946. His funded programs of field work,
contacts with botanists in Asia, and Arboretum grants led to locating fruiting
trees of Metasequoia in China, which Merrill described as a “living fossil”
and delighted in widely distributing its seeds. Dr. Elmer Merrill, through a productive
lifetime of work, was responsible for building the body of scientific knowledge
through the compilation of over one million sheets of herbarium specimens and
hundreds of publications.

After his first year at Harvard, Merrill
transferred his headquarters from the Gray
Herbarium to Jamaica
Plain. He lived on the Arboretum property at 690 Centre Street until his death in
1956. In addition to the nearly 500 publications, Merrill was also an active
correspondent. The letters primarily reflect Merrill’s years from 1935-46 as Administrator of the
Botanical Collections, but also include earlier letters from 1924 and
the collection extends beyond his retirement into 1954.

Known for his keen abilities as an administrator, the letters give details of
Merrill’s policies of
promoting plant collecting by native botanists, which produced herbarium specimens
collected from China, India, Java, the Philippines, Japan, and elsewhere. Letters promoting botanical exchanges and
collaboration with other institutions such as the Fairchild Tropical Garden, the
Smithsonian, University of California, USDA, Duke
University, New York
Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden, Instituto Miguel
Lillo-Argentina, Instituto Biologic-Colombia, Royal Botanic Gardens-Kew,
Imperial Forestry
Institute-England, Botanic Gardens Brisbane, Australian National
University, etc. are included.

Thirty + Assorted Letters, Memoranda, Chronological Notes on
Merrill's Life
Work, Excerpts from Official Register of
Harvard University Report of the President of Harvard
College and reports of departments1930's.

Series: II. Merrill Memoranda

Box 1

Folder 3: Memoranda, 1930-1957

These memoranda are addressed to either the staff of the
Arboretum or the
recipient is unknown. Some material dating from 1954
includes correspondence from R. A.
Howard.

Folder 4: Photographs/Portraits

Portrait in herbarium holding folder nd

Xerox of photograph of Merrill at the PhilippineBureau of Science,
January 1981 published in Asa gray Bulletin NS 2
(4).